How to install windows 10 on TC-1785

Hello. Please don't remind me that Microsoft will discontinue support for Windows 10 in October 2025. That is not my issue at present. I recently purchased a tc-1785. It sets up fine from the pre-installed Windows 11 installation process. However I would like to dumb it back to Windows 10. I have disable the Security settings in the BIOS. My legitimate copy of Windows 10 on USB is formatted as GPT. The Windows 10 installation boots and gets to the screen "where to install screen". But there is no drive listed. The same is true if I boot off a backup program like Macrium Reflect. The TC-1785 does not display the nvme drive. Why is this? The same thing has happened on two different TC-1785 machines.

Accepted answers

billsey

The install doesn't see the drives because the IRST drivers have not been loaded. Do as suggested and extract the drivers to a folder on your install flash drive, then install those drivers from that point in the install where it's asking what drive to use. The drive will show up once they are loaded and you can continue. Be aware that running W10 is not supported, and Intel hasn't released drivers for the chipset. It might work anyway, but things could easily be flaky…

All comments

Sharanji

@harryohrn54

The issue is likely a mismatch between the UEFI/GPT configuration of your system and the boot mode of your Windows installation media, or a problem with the NVMe drive's drivers being loaded during the Windows installation process.

Are you using the USB recovery media created from the recovery partition on your computer?

Did you try the Alt + F10 key recovery method? There is a inbuilt recovery partition present inside your computer. To access the recovery options on an Acer laptop, press and hold the Alt and F10 keys simultaneously during startup, which will lead to a menu where you can choose to reset your PC to factory settings.

If the reovery partition is corrupted, boot from your USB and try this.

When you are at the screen asking for language press the Shift + F10 key to open a command prompt. Type the following commands.
diskpart
list disk
select disk X Where X is the drive you will be installing Windows to. If you only have one drive X will be 0. Make sure you have the correct X if you have more than one drive
clean Wipes the partition table.
convert GPT Required for UEFI mode
exit
exit

Continue with the install. When at the screen asking for Custom Install or Upgrade select Custom. You will see your unallocated drive. Highlight it then press Next. Windows will automatically partition and format the drive.

AnhEZ28

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/723305/how-to-install-windows-10-on-tc-1785

This machine has Windows 11 drivers only, so I can't guarantee that using this IRST will work on Windows 10.

You can try to download this IRST driver, extract it, and put it into the USB. When the installer asks for the driver, locate it inside that folder.

harryohrn54

Thanks for your reply. However the TC-1785 comes with Windows 11. My desire is to install Windows 10 Pro. So I won't be able to use the built in recovery process that comes with TC-1785 because it is Windows 11. The USB drive that I created using RUFUS and a legitimate copy of Windows 10 is formated as GPT. I can boot from it but the install process does not see any drives to install to. No does my partitioning software.

Are you saying that the installed nvme uses Windows 11 drivers which load even though I am booting from a USB stick? These drivers must be part of the firmware in the BIOS/UEFI then. If so shouldn't the drive at least show when I try to install? Or perhaps Acer has decided to lock the system entirely to the nvme drive and not allow any changes to the hardware. I pulled the nvme and tried a different nvme drive. The same result. I pulled out the nvme drive and tried to install to a SATA drive. I encountered the same problem. So I suspect the issue has to do with the motherboard being tied to the nvme and Windows 11. In any event I think I will simply return the system to the retailer as it is still within a 30 day return period and move over to an HP or Dell as Acer has soured me completely. Thanks to all for you advice.

billsey

The install doesn't see the drives because the IRST drivers have not been loaded. Do as suggested and extract the drivers to a folder on your install flash drive, then install those drivers from that point in the install where it's asking what drive to use. The drive will show up once they are loaded and you can continue. Be aware that running W10 is not supported, and Intel hasn't released drivers for the chipset. It might work anyway, but things could easily be flaky…

harryohrn54

Thanks billsey. I find it very annoying that I have to add drivers but I guess that is how Acer wants to "protect owners" from making any changes to their preinstalled OS. Other systems like HP allow you to disable IRST and use AHCI in the BIOS/UEFI to boot. But there you go. Thanks again for the advice. As for Windows 10 I am aware that Microsoft plans to discontinue support in October. Too bad because Windows 11 is nasty business. They force OneDrive on us to sell storage space. It's fine if you"trust" storing info on someone else's server. I don't.

Larryodie

You can disable or unlink One Drive ? It shouldn't be any problem. I use and pay for Google Drive which I fill with photos. Both are available for people that use them and can be unlinked/disabled for those that don't. The fact is if you don't go online then you don't need security updates if not then go with the flow with an updated, WIN11

Have you tried to install with the internet connection, disconnected ??

billsey

It's not an Acer issue, it's a Microsoft issue. They don't want to pay licensing fees to Intel to include those drivers in the basic Windows package, so they force us to do it manually. Acer includes them in their recovery images, but the recovery image you can get directly from Acer has a cost, since it includes a new Windows license. The best first step when starting up a new PC is to start by creating your own recovery image on a flash drive, then using that if you ever have to start from scratch. No need to deal with it then… Or, some people just disable all the Intel IRST functions and don't install the drivers until they are re-enabled in the BIOS.

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